


Punk's Not Dead, Just Soft

by coolangelsthesis



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Games)
Genre: Alcohol, Established Relationship, Fluff, If You Squint There's Sexy Bits, M/M, Romance, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-25 03:24:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17717120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolangelsthesis/pseuds/coolangelsthesis
Summary: Wrench wasn’tsupposedto be a romantic.But yet here he was at Marcus’s front door with a dozen red roses in hand, on the fucking fourteenth of February, buying into this consumerist bullshit of a holiday just like any other person in love. How un-punk.





	Punk's Not Dead, Just Soft

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you [DramaticalHearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kusokawaii/pseuds/DramaticalHearts) for beta-ing! ily <3
> 
> So posting this early because I lack any ounce of patience but... happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Marcus did really weird things to him.

Not that it was bad or anything but sometimes Wrench started to wonder if it was fine for him to be this happy. Shit, when was the last time he’d been this happy? Had he ever been this happy before?

It was not good for him. Marcus was starting to make him go soft.

He’d replaced all the hardness he wanted to present to the world with soft mushy feel-good goopiness and, honestly, if he was an outsider looking in at their relationship, he would physically cringe at all the sappy shit he did without blinking an eye.

The mask, for one. Sometimes Wrench would completely forget he wasn’t wearing it when he was alone with Marcus. How exactly that was possible, except if Marcus was using some weird alien telepathic altering of his thoughts or something, he didn't know. He could go hours and not remember that Marcus had a front and center show to Wrench’s face— and part of him loved that he trusted Marcus enough with that. Another part of him hated that he loved it. And another another part still tried to beat him over the head with a brick of doubt and self loathing about the fact that Marcus got to see his ugly, beaten up face, but Marcus had a natural talent for telling that part to fuck off. And it usually involved showering him in kisses like they were in some awful romance movie.

How Marcus did it, turned him into such a weak mess, he had no idea. But when Marcus bore into him with that look that he could only describe as tenderly— whatever that fucking means— Wrench’s heart started going wild. It stopped the desperate urge to grab for the mask again. Never in his whole sad, chaotic life had he felt more comfortable with someone seeing so much of him all at once.

And that sappiness didn’t help any when they were getting it on, either. Wrench prided himself in his more-than-obvious penchant for leather and kinky sex, but more often than not, he and Marcus did it missionary on top of Marcus’s way-too-nice sheets and they were one Marvin Gaye song away from fucking in cheesy stereotypes. Once, when they were both about to come, he reached for Marcus’s hand and squeezed tight as his orgasm hit. Who in their right mind _does_ something like that without reeling in embarrassment?

Wrench was supposed to be Wrench. Rude. Perverted. Weird. Not this off-brand version of him that started to get butterflies when song lyrics reminded him of his boyfriend.

Nobody else thought it was as big of an issue as it was, either. Sitara dismissed him when he brought it up.

“I think you’re mistaking being in an actually good and healthy relationship as going soft,” she said, not looking up from the video she was editing. “And if that’s you going soft, maybe you need it.”

“I do-fucking-not need to go soft,” he responded, knowing the mask was showing something irritated. “Marcus must have abducted me and replaced me with another Wrench that is okay with hand holding and cuddling and long walks on the beach. How is that not a problem, Sitara?”

“Maybe you’re, uh, in love?”

“Well, I mean...”

He was cut off by the sound of the Hackerspace door opening, and the telling sound of Marcus’s footsteps. His heart leaped up in his chest and before he knew it, he was bounding over to the stairs to sweep Marcus into a tight hug.

He totally ignored the loud eyeroll Sitara gave him.

“Hey, Wrench,” Marcus said, planting a kiss on his forehead right above the mask. “Missed you too.”

Wrench kind of wished they were alone so he could take the mask off and kiss him properly and oh god, no way, was he actually really having that thought?

“Please tell me you did something badass so I can feel better about waiting around for you like a lonely housewife,” Wrench said, totally flashing Marcus heart eyes.

Marcus just smirked. “Does picking up Josh’s meds and petting some dogs count?”

“Get a room, you two,” Ray said from the couch, taking another swing of his beer. “Your young love schtick is stinking up the place.”

“That’s what I’ve been _trying_ to do, thanks,” Wrench replied, already missing the feeling of Marcus as they pulled out of their hug. “We gotta expand the space, man. Rooms with beds for sleeping and other... nefarious purposes. An actual usable bathroom would be nice, too.”

“I thought we were gonna get a slide,” Marcus added, grabbing a chair next to Sitara. “We can’t forget the slide.”

“Yeah, maybe once we take down another couple rich assholes, we can afford a big DedSec playground,” Sitara said, laughing. “I’m about to launch the video. Gather around, everyone.”

And then the problem was ignored in the excitement of slandering the name of another hotshot CEO.

Wrench continued suffering silently, since he couldn’t turn to Marcus about it, and everyone in DedSec only saw it as a good thing.

Why did nobody understand?

Wrench wasn’t _supposed_ to be a romantic.

But yet here he was at Marcus’s front door with a dozen red roses in hand, on the fucking fourteenth of February, buying into this consumerist bullshit of a holiday just like any other person in love. How un-punk.

He contemplated long and hard about dropping the roses there and leaving, or maybe tossing them in the trash or in the gutter so someone would trample over them or something. But he couldn’t stop himself as he knocked on the door and signed his own fate, because before he could even prepare himself Marcus was opening the door and giving him one of those big, ecstatic grins that made him a little weak at the knees.

He hid the roses behind his back just in the nick of time, hoping the mask wasn’t betraying him.

“Wrench!” Marcus exclaimed. “You’re late, man. I was worried dinner was gonna get cold.”

“Yeah, sorry, I was… busy in… traffic.” Lies. He was busy in line at the grocery store on the corner. Buying the roses behind his back. “Crazy getting over here, but I— wait, dinner?”

“Well, yeah, it’s Valentine’s Day. And I figured my favorite anarchist wouldn’t want chocolates or stuffed bears or whatever so… dinner.”

Marcus pushed the door open more, inviting Wrench inside. He led Wrench through his tidied living room to his small kitchen, the smell of something delicious filling the air.

“You gotta stop eating only shitty microwave food and pizza, you know that, right? So I made you a real dinner. And, well, I’m not the _best_ cook, but I tried. Is steak good?”

For once, Wrench was at a loss for words. One, because damn, he sure felt called out for how un-Wrench it was to bring flowers and two, how in the absolute hell did he deserve his wonderful and lovely boyfriend? His mask was _definitely_ flashing heart eyes now if it wasn’t already.

“Marcus, you… you absolute goddamn romantic. That’s the cheesiest and sweetest shit anyone’s ever done for me. Ever. And yeah, steak is always fucking good.” His arm started getting tired from holding the bouquet behind his back this long. “Actually, uh… I got you something.”

He held out the roses, turning his head away so he didn’t have to see the look on Marcus’s face— which he definitely wanted to see, but didn’t want to betray his punkness any further than he already had. It was starting to get unbearably hot underneath the mask, too. For some reason.

“Uh… happy Valentine’s Day, Marcus.”

“Aw, Wrench…”

Then he was pulled into a hug, Marcus’s arms held tight around him. He didn’t even seem to care about the spikes of the mask or his jacket because he was hugging him _really_ close, and the warmth only made the nervous beating in his chest that much worse. But he still moved into it, and wrapped his arms around Marcus in return.

“I thought you thought today was bullshit,” Marcus said, pulling out of the hug just enough to look at Wrench’s face. The mask face. But he always seemed to look right through it.

“It _is_ bullshit, Marcus. It’s total bullshit.” Wrench kind of wanted to rip the stupid mask off right now and kiss Marcus quiet, but his hands were a little preoccupied with preventing the roses from falling on the ground and holding his boyfriend tight. “But… I don’t know. It’s different if it's you. I don't fucking get it, M. You make me go soft.”

Marcus’s soft laughter filled Wrench’s ears and he swore he was going to die then and there, and he would be totally okay with it. “I’m pretty sure you’re always half-hard around me, though.”

“Soft in the _heart_ , dude. You know I’ve always got a boner for you.”

Again Marcus laughed, then worked one his hands free and brought it up to Wrench’s face. "May I?"

To which Wrench rolled his eyes. "I've already said you don't have to ask anymore."

"I know, I know! Just making sure."

Dammit, no matter how many times this happened or how long Wrench mentally prepared himself or how much he wanted the fucking mask off, nerves always got the better of him. A very large part of him wanted to flee.

And the feeling always lingered after the mask was off. The cool air around his face only worsened the warmth in his cheeks.

Wrench felt exposed. Vulnerable. He couldn’t ignore the nervous churning in his stomach or the clamminess of his palms or the racing of his heart. Worse is that he knew he shouldn’t feel this nervous, but he couldn’t stop it now. Looking past Marcus’s shoulder, he drew out the inevitable eye-to-eye.

But Marcus was really good at recognizing his hesitation, because then his hand was cupping the side of Wrench’s face, gently running his thumb against the tired under-eye bags. The slow, repetitive motion eased Wrench’s nerves just a little, and he gathered the courage to meet Marcus’s dark, soft, loving eyes.

“Hey, handsome,” Marcus said, a smile playing on his lips.

Wrench snorted. “You need to get your prescription checked out. Handsome? Please.”

“I said what I said.”

Rolling his eyes, Wrench pushed forward, pulling Marcus into a soft kiss. Marcus squeezed him a little tighter and grinned into the motion. What an absolute sap. Not like Wrench was always on cloud nine when they kissed, but that was whatever.

Just as things started to get heated, Marcus reluctantly pulled out of their embrace. “Okay, okay, if we keep this up, we’ll skip right over our dinner to dessert.”

“And enjoying dessert before dinner is a bad thing… why? Oh!" Wrench nodded down to the bouquet. "We could rip off all the petals and fuck on 'em, too!”

Marcus gave him a look, then shook his head, chuckling. "Maybe later."

He took the roses from Wrench and found an old wine bottle he hadn’t tossed out yet to put them in. He ushered Wrench over as he set them in the center of his tiny dining table— which he’d taken the time to carefully set with candles and everything, and god, Wrench found even that endearing. Then Marcus ducked back into the kitchen, pulling something out of the oven.

He returned with nice wine and two steaming plates of food, setting one down in front of Wrench and the other in front of his own seat. While Wrench wasn’t the most knowledgeable about what constitutes good cooking, to him, it looked delicious. It was a fairly simple meal— large slab of meat, potatoes, and…

“Really, Marcus?” Wrench asked, pointing at the generous helping of carrots in a dark glaze. “ _Vegetables_?”

“I don’t think your body has had a single vitamin in months, so yes,” Marcus said, taking his seat. “Just try it. It ain’t bad, I promise.”

He wanted to make a snide remark about getting plenty of vitamin D— you know, because dick— but he decided against it. Still eyeing Marcus warily, Wrench grabbed his fork and stabbed into a piece of carrot. He made an act of taking the tiniest and most methodical bite possible because the combined look of frustration and anticipation Marcus had on was _hilarious_.

And as he chewed, he realized… it wasn’t bad. Barely even tasted like dirt. Actually, it was pretty nice.

“…Huh.”

Marcus looked pleased. “What did I tell you? It's my mom's recipe.”

“Man, you know I must love you if you can rope me into eating healthy shit.”

“That’s real dedication, huh?”

Wrench winked. “You know it, baby.”

They ate over comfortable conversation turning to discussion-slash-debates about who would win in fictitious battles. The rest of their dinner was excellent, Marcus was one hell of a cook. The potatoes were a little burnt but the steak? Perfect. And the vegetables were actually edible— how the hell he allowed Marcus to do this to him, Wrench still didn't know.

Then, with the both of them pleasantly buzzed from the wine, they found themselves in Marcus’s bedroom watching the one and only rom-com Jimmy Siska starred in on his laptop. While tearing it to shreds, they messily made out and slowly, lazily… enjoyed their dessert.

Somewhere Wrench realized that it’d become one of those times he even forgot the mask was off. He didn’t _dislike_ the feeling at all and, honestly, being able to do shit like eating or making out without having to push the stupid thing up every couple seconds was really, really nice.

Okay, maybe going soft had some perks. Maybe getting in some breathing room outside of the mask every once and a while wasn’t all that bad.

And besides, being in love is totally punk.

**Author's Note:**

> There was going to be some nasty thrown in here, but my job is killing me right now lmao. I could totally write a chapter 2 if anyone wants that, though...
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments/kudos are always appreciated <3


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